holiday decluttering

[fred_mouse]

Amazing amounts of decluttering happening in the House of Mouse at this point - I work for a university where the approach to public holidays is to give time in lieu between Christmas and New Year, so I've just had a week and a half to sit around and work out where to start. So far: 

• youngest (aged 10) and I have gone through zer wardrobe, clearing out a staggering number of leotards (8), pairs of tights (6), and other assorted dance paraphenalia, all of which have been passed on for a smaller child to pick through, with whatever is less to be passed on to people coordinating items for foster care. Also dragged out more old dance shoes from the garage to go (not all - not everything was sorted)
• youngest has gone through the year's school work, and thrown the majority in the recycling (the school year having just finished)
• the teetering mound of paper on the floor in the music room (blocking the route to the piano) has been sorted through, and at least half thrown (I may have mentioned this in my last post)
• assorted toys have been declared 'unloved' and passed on to appropriate younger children, including a box containing a range of 'kitchen' themed toys
• about a dozen books. 

I'm not tracking numbers in and out, because I'm too unreliable about writing the 'in' down, but I think we are in front (things in: 4 DVDs, food), but I'm counting this as ahead, as it is at least one thing each day!

Comments

[peaceful_sands]

Sounds like a great job done so far and getting others involved to declare things 'unloved' themselves makes it so much easier to actually dispose of items that are no longer needed. Good luck for whatever comes next!

[fred_mouse]

I've found that giving kids time and opportunity to make the choices themselves pays off in the long run. I have had to grit my teeth, smile, and put things back in the cupboard (no, no, that shirt isn't too small, really; no, you can't throw out the eleventy billion pieces of paper each with three stripes of paint on them from daycare/kindy, I loves them *all*), but there comes a time when they are able to comfortably give things away. Plus, it gives them opportunity to stand up for what they want - I pick the occasional thing to say 'are you sure' (with or without frowny face) about, and they then have to revisit the idea.

[tanaqui]

Go you! That sounds excellent progress - especially the teetering mound of paper. :-) And it sounds like you're gently helping your children to learn some habits that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives. Good luck with the next phase.

[fred_mouse]

thank you! I'm hoping to teach my kids to keep the things they love, and not just hoard everything. My mother was a big one for reducing my stuff, and I have spent the greater part of a decade teaching myself that not all Stuff is as important, and I don't have to keep all of it! (that, plus the two grandmothers who married during the 30's Depression, both of whom had very strong ideas about what did and didn't get thrown out)

[tanaqui]

Yikes, yeah, that sounds like quite a bit of baggage to deal with. (I just got the "must save everything because you might use it one day" message and have been trying to unlearn that....) Good on you for trying to strike a balance help your kids have a healthy relationship with Stuff -- sounds like the process you described above to peaceful_sands is really starting to pay off.